Luziyca

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The Christian Republic of Luziyca (pronounced /luzaɪ.ikə/ in English) is a nation located on the continent of Borea. As of 2015, it has just above three hundred million persons, making it the third-largest country within Esquarium, behind Namor and Koyro. The country has a large economy and military, and has significant influence globally.

History

The Luziycan civilization is one of the most ancient civilizations in Esquarium, and arguably one of the more ancient in the southwestern part of Velkia. The first specks of civilization originated around the Sprska River, Shiloh River and the Kirk River, and as time progressed turned into tribes, kingdoms, and then empires. Luziyca did not become a unified country until 1863, when it was united by Huswa Varanken, although in spite of it, there were substantial Slavic populations living in non-Slavic-majority areas, combined with economic ties among them.

Ancient Period

Prehistoric Period

The earliest evidence of a Luziycan is the Shiloh Man, located near Shilo, Luziyca, was a Homo Ergaster, with carbon dating and the fossil record tracing it to 1.1 million years ago. The first evidence of a settlement was dated to 19,500 years ago, on the Sprska River, near Semprihevosk, based off of agriculture and fishing.

By around 9,500 years ago, Luziyca began to be more dependent on agriculture. At that point, the first written record could be found, around 8,500 BCE.

Judaic Era

During that time, Old Luziycan was first transcribed.

(tbc)

Early Christian Era

Crucifixion of Iesus, as painted in 1544

Iesus, a Jewish-Lombardian preacher, was born around 1 BC. While his birthday has been accepted to be Dec. 25th, many people argue he was born earlier. From AD 28 to his death, he spread his teachings across Luziyca, urging people to live their lives according to the Gospel. In AD 32, while visiting present-day Lombardia, he was taken by soldiers, and was crucified near Yerevan. After a day, his body went missing. Two days later, it was said that people near Mount Tatra saw him rise to heaven. This saw the rise of Christianity in Esquarium.

In AD 53, Saint Luther standardized the faith, and convinced the chieftain of Oteki to convert to Christianity. He promptly did so, as well as the people. Over the next few hundred years, Christianity spread like wildfire, displacing Judaism. By AD 525, the Jews were "found only in valleys of the great wall dividing this holy land," and in Mirak, where by that point, they had to accept Christianity. In AD 570, the First Temple was ransacked by a mob of Christians, having stood for nearly 8,100 years. A Second Temple was immediately built, to serve both as a temple for the Jews, and a cathedral for the Christians, under the rule of the last Jewish ruler, who converted to Christianity, Saint Anthony, who later contributed the practices still used in Apostolic Catholicism today.

Middle Ages

In AD 799, some groups of Slavs invaded Mirak, and ransacked Pristanische, including its Second Temple, before killing all the remaining Jews in Pristanische, resulting in the establishment of Viking kingdoms, and colonized the regions, at the expense of the locals. In the 1100s, the Spice Road (known in modern times as the Golden Spice Road) blossomed, forming major trade networks as the cities of Pristanische, Gusev and Bethlehem grew rich.

In 1365, the Black Death came after fleas on rats from ships trading with Namor and other regions of Esquarium came to a harbor in Pristanische, and was estimated to have decimated around 40% of the population, but in some regions, especially Kraya, as high as 90%. As a result, it would give incentive to develop the various states, and their economies. Thus, within the next 20 years, many mergers were made, often with "rotten baronies" merging with prosperous countries.

The Black Death struck again in 1388, 1423, and 1449, but they did not kill as many as the Black Death in 1365 (it killed only 21% of the population altogether, compared to 40% in 1365). A few more rotten baronies merged, but it was not as much as it was.

By the 1460s, the borders have become largely static, with a few tributary states, corresponding with the Patriarchates, to the major Empires (Mirak, and Lombardia, as well as the Kingdom of Bethlehem). At this point, many referred to the entire collection, plus the only non-tributary countries without their own tributary states (i.e. Katranjiev) as Luziyca, due to their interconnected economies and existence of substantial Slavic populations in their respective areas.

(TBC)

The Renaissance has been argued to have begun as early as 1365, when the Black Death struck, but the traditional view, agreed by most scholars was that the renaissance of Luziycan culture began in 1501, when Abraham Malyugin, noted author and painter, released the first major book in Luziycan not religious-related or anything mundane: the Criticism of Lusatian Culture, which was a critique of how rudimentary Luziycan culture is, and ow it was being overshadowed in favor of Conitian and Nordanian culture. This book helped spur on a Luziycan cultural revival, and led to a renaissance.

In 1524, the King of Bethlehem commissioned artists, with a stipend of ten lira per month, and a two hundred lira payment for every work of art done. As a result, artists began flocking to Bethlehem. Paintings began appearing en masse, and by the 1540s, Lombardia and Inleda also offered similar offers. However, by 1550, the artist craze died down, although the economy picked up.

In the early 1600s, Latin became a dead language, as Luziycan, Lombardian and Mirakian became accepted among the ruling elites as proper languages. Thus, during the 1600s, more and more writing was done in these vernacular languages while less and less writing was done in Latin.

During the 17th century, colonies by Lombardia, Mirak and Bethlehem began forming colonies in new lands across Esquarium, with their primary goals being to increasing trade, spreading "civilization" to the native peoples and exploiting the resources of the newly-conquered lands. At that time, slavery was common, and many black slaves came form the new colonies. White settlers were lured into the colonies in promise of free land, and missionaries started flowing into the colonies. These colonies enriched the metropoles, which in turn, increased the standards of living in Bethlehem, Lombardia and Mirak, and enabled them to expand their influence over the smaller states in present-day Luziyca.

By the 18th century, feudalism was gradually chopped away, with Mirak emancipating serfs in 1713, except those under the control of the church. In 1742, Lombardia abolished serfdom and emancipated them. Bethlehem would only abolish serfdom in 1806, while the church only abolished it in 1873. At the same time, however, the ideas of republicanism took ground, which was helped by improved communication, and the centralization of power in the various nations to a degree that by the 1820s, there were only three major nations left in the present-day area of Luziyca: Lombardia, Mirak, and Bethlehem, with most of the remainder being tightly influenced by the three great powers or else in a personal union with those states.

As time wore on, the monarchies cracked down on republicanism, and began repressing the intellectuals that expressed support for republicanism, or else demanded representation for the people, leading to the start of a revolution in 1860. At the same time, increased economic ties between the three states from the 1770s on, combined with the existence of substantial Slavic minorities outside the Kingdom of Bethlehem (in both Mirak and Lombardia) helped make unification more and more likely.

Unification and early years of the Christian Republic

In 1860, discontent in Lombardia led to a revolution that on August 19th, 1860, deposed the Lombardian Emperor. Former lawyer Huswa Varanken was chosen to lead the Republic of Lombardia, but he was the one that supported a "Greater Luziyca," unification of all regions considered to be Luziycan. After the abdication of the Emperor of Lombardia, he declared the creation of the Republic of Luziyca, but he ruled as a virtual dictator at that point.

When Empress Sofia I heard of the revolution in Lombardia, she transformed the Empire of Mirak into a constitutional monarchy, and the Mirakians elected the only Prime Minister, Ilir Gabrovec. On Oct. 13, 1861, the Empire of Mirak was dissolved and integrated into the Republic of Luziyca following a series of military defeats culminating in the Battle of Pristanische.

Due to the balance of power, following the fall of Mirak, the Kingdom of Bethlehem put up a stubborn defense to attempt to slow down the Republican advance and ideally force the rebels to turn back. While the Kingdom of Bethlehem did score some victories against the rebels, the Kingdom of Bethlehem surrendered to the Republic of Luziyca after the death of their King on March 25th, 1863. Following this act, a constitutional convention took place in order to draw up plans for a new constitution for a unified Luziyca.

In 1864, the Republic of Luziyca (with Huswa Varanken serving as its only President) was abolished, exactly one year from its unification. With a new constitution being approved, the Christian Republic of Luziyca was finally born. However, some pretenders have continued to maintain their claims.

In 1876, serfdom and slavery was finally abolished across the nation. By 1877, the administration for the territory of East Luziyca had been set, and the same with Newfoundland in 1883. During the 1880s, free land was offered to people willing to settle the eastern territory. Potential settlers were given 160 acres for free if they made the land sustainable within 5 years. This policy would enable the creation of various states in the 1880s and 1890s, namely Pustinia, Khariton, and Evpraksiya.

In 1899, after an uprising of Luziycans in Oteki, which was coterminous with the First Namo-Luziycan War, the Hào dynasty that ruled Namor at the time was forced to sign a treaty ceding both Oteki and Nantai to Luziyca. Initially, Oteki was incorporated as part of East Luziyca Territory, but in 1900, it became its own state, before a referendum and an act of Congress enabled Oteki to become sovereign. On the other hand, Nantai was intended to become an integral part of Luziyca, and the Luziycan government attempted to attract ethnic Luziycans to settle in the area, although the policy did not achieve much success in making ethnic Namorese a minority in their own land.

During the 1920s, economic prosperity grew, with Pristanische, Yerevan and Bethlehem becoming major economic centers, and factories began to grow in major importance. However, in 1929, the Bethlehem Stock Market crashed, plunging Luziyca into the Great Depression.

Great Depression

shitty economy, i guess

In an effort to improve the economy, regulations were significantly cut, and in 1938, employers were allowed to fire any employee for any reason whatsoever. Thus, by the 1940s, the economy was on its way to a post-war recovery.

In 1951, they began the creation of constituent republics, first in Nantai, and followed in 1958 by both Mirak and Lombardia.

Quiet Revolution

In the 1960s, the Christian Republic began major secularization, starting with the election of President Khranovi Semrov, when in 1962, he passed a law enabling the election of the Senate by people (prior to that, one seat of the states was appointed by the legislature, the other by the Church), which began to reduce the power of Apostolic Catholicism. In 1963, Danzig, Mirak, Alto Luziyca, Upper and Lower Kraya, and Southern Luziyca removed all Christianity from the curriculum except the reading of the Bible, and by 1965, only Greenwich, Tungista, Sprska, the Dartmouth Islands, and Tumyeshki still had Christianity in their public schools. In 1966, the government ordered the removal of all Christianity from public schools and also allowed schools whether to become "Catholic" schools or "Public" schools, the former being allowed to keep Christianity. In 1968, the Christian Luziycan Party split into two, over the issue of religion, the more conservative faction becoming the National Luziycan Party, but the former kept the CLP name until 1976 when it became the Whigs.

In Mirak, the Quiet Revolution had a profound effect. Until the 1960s, Pristanische was the buckle of the Bible Belt, and the expression, "Banned in Pristanische" referred to work that authorities there banned for "moral corruption." During the 1960s, the Mirakians rapidly the shed the image of the Church, and in under a decade, the buckle of the belt moved southwards to Greenwich State, as well as liberalizing the culture in that state.

By the 1970s, it was increasingly clear that the East will outsurpass the west economically and socially. In 1972, the replacement for the Achievement Test, created in 1947, was the federally-made Standard Achievement Test was revealed.

After the fall of communism in the west in 1989, relations improved and culminated in reunification in 1991, with William Mishnev becoming the first President of a reunified Luziyca.

Present Day

After the reunification of Luziyca, the country started to experience massive economic growth, especially in the west. Thus, in the early 2000s, many Luziycans felt that the 21st century would be the Luziycan century. In 2000, Phoebe Wilhelm became the first female President of Luziyca to take office, and implemented a program to enhance Luziyca's position as a superpower on the global stage. Despite her death in 2003, her policies were continued by her successors, Franklin Varanken and Prevayu Brouvayeshki. However, when the Bethlehem Stock Exchange and the Semprihevosk Stock Exchange crashed on Oct. 19, 2008, it led to a recession which lasted until late 2009. After bailouts of banks like Coinstar, the economy recovered.

In 2016, Terezika Pivec became the first non-Whig President in a reunified Luziyca. Despite surviving an assassination attempt just a week after her inauguration, she helped abolish the death penalty for most offenses, and oversaw Luziyca joining the Esquarian Community.

Today, Luziyca has one of Esquarium's largest economies and still maintains substantial influence over Esquarium.

Congress comprises of an eighty-six member Senate, with 2 Senators per state, territory or autonomous republic and elected every 4 years, while the 625 Representatives represent the peoples of Luziyca, and elected every two years. It meets in Bethlehem. However, the Head of the House of Representatives is the Speaker, while the Vice-President of Luziyca leads the Senate. Both could be called to organize a tie-breaking vote if the vote is tied. The current head of state and government is the President, Damir Agapov.

Foreign Relations

The relationship between the Commonwealth and the Christian Republic of Luziyca have been exceptionally close in recent years. The relations have expanded beyond strong economic and commercial links to other spheres, including defence, tourism, culture and scientific cooperation. The Commonwealth operates a Godeung Panmugwan in Bethlehem to maintain strong relations with Luziyca whilst providing consular services to Freyhillian Citizens within the Christian Republic as well as multiple other Consulates across the country, whilst Luziyca operates an Embassy in Goldglass as well as multiple Consulates across the country. Both the Commonwealth and the Christian Republic of Luziyca co-founded the now defunct Esquarium Union.

Although Vyvland and Luziyca have had intertwined histories for a long time, the two countries have not always got on well. Luziyca's support for the overthrowing of the government in the Vyvlander Civil War was widely condemned within Vyvland and internationally, and East Luziyca's support for the harsh South Vyvlander regime was disliked by many, including supporters of the nationalist government. Many nationalist supporters felt East Luziyca was meddling in their affairs, for example through the installation of Erman Sanker. East Luziyca was more sympathetic to the Northern government. Since Vyvlander reunification, relations have improved, although the Luziycan military base at Syfmion in Vyvland has been a source of tension between the two countries.

Luzyica is a leading trade partner for West Cedarbrook, both in exports and imports. Trade and travel agreements include Cedarbrookese membership in the Greenwich Area. There is a bilateral defense agreement between the two states pertaining to the Southern Ocean. Trade between West Cedarbrook and certain less stable nations is conducted using the lira as payment, and through Luziycan banking clearinghouses.

In peacetime, the Luziycan Army has 350,000 soldiers, with approximately 3,000 tanks. The main battle tank is the M1 Abrams with 1,280 tanks, and the M60 Patton with 1,000 tanks. The remainder of the tanks are of other designs. The main service weapon is the M4 Carbine. During war time however, it can go up to around one million people, and is one of the most celebrated branches within the fatherland. The primary task of the Luziycan Armed Forces is to preserve the peace and security and provide for the defense of Luziyca and her allies and overcome any nations responsible for aggressive acts that imperil the peace and security of Luziyca.

The Navy in peacetime is the second largest with 185,000 soldiers, with 3 aircraft carriers, 6 battleships, 10 destroyers, 30 frigates, and 47 submarines, as well as 2 hospital ships. The aircraft carriers are of the Nimitz-class, the battleships are of the Iowa-class, the destroyers are of the Iroquois-class, and the submarines are of the Upholder/Victoria-class.

The Air Force in peacetime is the third largest with 25,000 soldiers, with 670 fighter jets, of the F-35 and F-16 classes, 400 bombers of the B-1 Lancer class, 2500 helicopters of the UH-1N Twin Huey, and 300 refueling aircraft of the KC-135 Stratotanker class.

The Marines in peacetime has 12,500 soldiers. Unlike the other branches, they rarely use heavy equipment, strongly relying on mobility as a tactic. They are more heavily trained, and are considered to be the showpiece of the military.

The Coast Guard is the smallest branch of the military. It mostly functions as a small-scale green water navy. It has roles in maritime homeland security, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, and the maintenance of river, intra-coastal and offshore aids to navigation. The Coast Guard usually is deployed every day. With a decentralized organization and much responsibility placed on even the most junior personnel, the Coast Guard is frequently lauded for its quick responsiveness and adaptability in a broad range of emergencies.

Until 1970, Luziyca demobilized their military every Christmas Day, but since 1971, it has ceased doing so, due to the loss of Oteki when the Otekian military did so in 1969 and 1970, despite claims by Namor that it is false.

Geography

A geographical map of Luziyca

Mount Tatra is considered to be one of the most beautiful mountains in Luziyca.

A mountain range, the Pine Cordillera (Luziycan: Peshumontzeya, Mirakian: Borovje gore, Lombardian: Montagne di Pino) covers the central portion of Luziyca, named for the pine trees (known as spruce elsewhere in the world) that give the mountains their green color. In many cases, the tree line is only several meters from the snow line.

Mainland Luziyca is 9,984,670 km².

Due to the large size of Luziyca, there are huge variations when it comes to climate. Clockwise, the northeast has a humid continental climate, characterized by distinct seasons, with warm summers and cold winters, but not very extreme. Towards the east, it transitions into a desert, which is generally hot year-round, although there are cool evenings. In the south, it is subtropical, with the conditions perfect to grow grapes. In the west, it is warm, but it is generally wet. In the north, it is similar to the northeast, except snow comes less often, and the Pine Cordillera also has an alpine climate.

Flora and Fauna

Due to it being a widely diverse country, Luziyca has a plethora of animal and plant species. The national animal is the bald eagle, which is common in the Pine Cordillera and the northeastern bowl that includes the capital city, Bethlehem.

Administrative Divisions

Luziyca has three constituent republics, and twenty-six states. Thus, there are twenty-nine administrative divisions comprising the Christian Republic of Luziyca herself. In addition, there is a claim over a section ofHyporia which is recognized by nobody.

Most Luziycans, around three quarters of the population, are of Caucasian descent. Descendants of the Ineldan peoples comprise 18% of the white population, whilst the Lombardians within Luziyca comprise 4% of the white population. The remainder are descendants of the various Slavic and German tribes that resided here.

Around 11% of Luziycans are of African descent. They are almost all descendants of slaves who were brought from Africa until slavery was outlawed in 1873. Other ethnic groups include Mirakians, Lombardians, and the Shudri.

Language

The Mirakian language is mostly spoken in the northern areas of the country, notably in Mirak. Approximately 5% of Luziycans list Mirakian as their native language, and nearly 50% of Luziycans can speak the language at an intermediate level.

Luziycan is the native language of most of the country, and is the lingua franca of Luziyca. Around 54% list Luziycan as their native language, and 99.1% speak Luziycan at an intermediate level.

Western Argilian is mostly spoken in the southwestern regions of the country. About 10% speak it as a native language, and 40% speak it an intermediate level. It is more predominant in Lombardia and surrounding areas.

Namorese is spoken almost exclusively in Nantai. 7% speak it as their native language, and 9% can at least speak intermediately.

Religion

Luziyca is a secular country, and freedom of religion is a constitutional right. The church and the state have been separated ever since the republican revolution of 1863. However, it has an official religion: Apostolic Catholicism, led by the Popes in Bethlehem. In Mirak, Tastanism is also its official religion alongside Apostolic Catholicism.

A majority of Luziycans follow some kind of religion. Only around 36% of Luziycans claim that religion isn't very important to them, and only 2% claim that religion doesn't mean anything at all to them. The area where people typically are extremely religious can be found in the Bible Belt.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Highway Three on the Canmore-Jasper stretch

Map of Federal and State Highways

The transport network in Luziyca is very large, with over 6,586,610 km of paved roads, with 455,000 km being highways. There are 18 federal highways, the longest being Highway 1, beginning in Frontiersburg, Kraya-Nord and ending at Semprihevosk. Then, there are state highways, controlled by the constituent states of Luziyca. With the Highway network, the nation has been connected, since when the Federal Highways were formed in 1959. Roads are extremely common, with the Federal Highways using concrete, and the State Highways using asphalt. They have a system of road signs. In addition, there are license plates in Luziyca, which are required in order to operate a vehiclein many areas of the country.

There is a railroad network, operated by Luztrak, with the Evangeline (Semprihevosk-Yerevan) high-speed line the busiest, followed by The Eagle (Semprihevosk-Bethlehem).

Health

As of 2010, around 73% of people are insured, the remaining people being too poor to be insured. Health insurance is seen as a necessity to get healthcare within Luziyca. Since 2000, the Department of Health is disbanded and healthcare is fully privatized with no government funding. One who does not have insurance must pay all the costs, which often are extremely high, and even insurance only covers at least 10%. There are 12,596 hospitals, and 38,681 clinics.

Life expectancy in Luziyca is 81.5 years, 83.1 years for females and 79.9 years for males. The most common cause of death is heart disease as of 2015.

Education

The Education System in Luziyca was devised by the Education Act, 1869, and the curriculum is set by the state, not the federal government, although the federal government regulates education to some degree via the Department of Education.

It has two years of optional pre-kindergarten, mandatory Kindergarten, then mandatory Primary School from Grade 1 to Grade 8, followed by Grade 9 to 12. They are owned by the government but delegates its authorities to school boards, of which there is usually two in a given area, the Christian School Board, and the Public School Board. Both have school fees, and the main difference is that Christianity is taught as fact (as per the Bethlehem Papacy).

After Grade 12, one can enter the workforce directly, enter a Polytechnic, or attend University.

There are 88,314 primary schools, and 32,587 secondary schools. 15,681 schools are K-12, and 1,698 are other (usually Middle Schools, or Special Education Schools). Thus, in total, there are 138,280 schools in Luziyca proper. There are 3,687 colleges, and 146 universities.

In Luziyca, there are 61,151,190 students, from Kindergarten to Grade 12, or 19.8% of the population.

Economy

Luziyca has a capitalist free market economy, which is fueled by abundant natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure, and high productivity.

The private sector was estimated to constitute 91.7% of the economy, with government activity accounting for 4.2% and local government activity the remaining 4.1%. While its economy has reached a postindustrial level of development and its service sector constitutes 71% of GDP, Luziyca remains an industrial power. The leading business field by gross business receipts is wholesale and retail trade; by net income it is manufacturing. Chemicals, petroleum products, foodstuffs, computer parts, automobiles and electronics are the leading manufacturing fields. Luziyca is one of the largest producers of oil in the region; there are ample reserves of oil off the shore of Luziyca and especially in the plains of Eastern Luziyca. Luziyca is also one of the largest producers of chromium, coal, copper, iron, nickel and uranium. While agriculture accounts for just under 3% of GDP, Luziyca is one of the the world's top producers of wheat, barley and meat, which is typically produced in western Luziyca. Tourism is also a large source of income for many people, although the amount of tourists entering the country has lessened after travel restrictions were put in place by several countries hostile to Luziyca.

As of 2010, the labor force comprise 267,864,152, or around 63% of the entire population. The Government of Luziyca, in total as of 2010, employs 20,182,591 people (an example being Luziycan Post or the United Space Agency), while the largest private sector is health care, at 19,481,596 people, followed by retail, at 19,381,287 people.

Luziyca has had some significant income inequality since the 1970s (on the eastern side, 1991 on the western side), with a GINI co-efficient of 41.1. However, people within Luziyca do not see it as a problem, since they believe that they should only donate to the poor that at least try to work hard, and is considered that they should succeed or fall at their own merits.

The currency of Luziyca since 1863 is the lira, with an average exchange rate of 1 lira = 2 dollars, and it actually is worth more than the dollar. The total GDP (PPP) of Luziyca is ₤8,482,797,257,028 ($16,965,594,514,056), while the GDP per capita is ₤27,298.50 ($54,597), which is among the highest in the region.

Law and Order

Law Enforcement

In Luziyca, law enforcement is done by the various police agencies. The police of states and republics, usually as (name here) State/Republican Police, and then below that are city police.

There is no national police, and in Semprihevosk and Bethlehem, the police of the surrounding state has jurisdiction over their territories. For border control, the Department of Homeland Security is in charge and also gives out passports.

Judicial System

In Luziyca, they use common and civil laws, as a basis for their legal system. Prior to 1863, both systems were used, many realms having favored common law, while Mirak favored civil law. In 1863, they adopted a mixture, and had them organized. Today, there are 382 County Courts (which don't correspond with the borders of the counties), followed by forty-three Superior Courts (on the state or republic level), and then six Circuit Courts (often grouped in uneven chunks of 6 states or territories), and then the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has 9 Justices and a Chief Justice, who currently is Jenkins Ratburn. It requires a 5-4 yes or nays at minimum for a decision to be made.

However, in 2016, Terezika Pivec approved legislation that would only see it being used against terrorists, war criminals, those who commit genocide, and those who commit treason after January 1, 2017: offenses prior to January 1, 2017 can still be given the death penalty.

However, due to her use of the presidential pardon, she commuted the sentences of all people on death row, reducing the number of people on death row from 3,293 in August 2016 to 63 in September 2016.

Prison System

Court system in Luziyca

The Luziycan governments describes the goals of the justice system of being to deter crime and give appropriate punishments to criminals. However, there have been frequent reports of torture and human rights violations, as well as suppressing of political opposition.

The 1957 Prison Act reorganized the prison system and placed it under the supervision of the Federal Government, although private prisons have been allowed. Prisons are placed in five categories and are arranged by code, while Detention Centers only have names. Other prisons may also have names but codes are used for organizational use.

Categories

A - Supermax: Only a single prison, Oksana A1 is a supermax facility, since it first opened in 1989, and is located near Oksana, Khariton.

B - Maximum: There are 35 Maximum Security Prisons scattered throughout the country, the first one being Dhenen B1, that opened in 1957.

C - Medium: There are 150 Medium Security Prisons scattered throughout the country, the first one being Aluk C1, opening in 1957.

D - Minimum: There are 300 Minimum Security Prisons scattered throughout the country, the first one being Bethlehem D1, opening in 1957.

Detention Center: There are 100 Detention Centers, where criminals are held before their trial, the first one being the Richard Adam Cross Detention Center opening in 1963.

Culture

Media

The media in Luziyca is rated the freest in the world, according to a 2013 Gallup Poll. Luziyca has a plethora of media choices, with major television networks involving LRT and OBS, and has about 15,000 television stations. It also has a lot of newspapers, with the most well-known papers being Den Konstitution and the National Enquirer. It also has a lot of commercial radio and community radio stations (numbering around 25,000 in total on all frequencies), and it has a wide presence on the internet, with 95% of all Luziycans having access to the internet.

Cuisine

Traditional Luziycan food

The cuisine of Luziyca has had many influences, although in recent years, it has become more Westernized, with fast food springing up and hamburgers becoming popular. Traditional Luziycan cuisine, while only consumed on foreign occasions has food like vareniki, valki, as well as khaleb, the traditional bread, and the traditional meat, vertel. However, it tends to have regional variations, with fish being consumed on the coast (Mirak cuisine has a lot of fish dishes, from salmon to meatballs, to the most notorious, gnile ribe, although gnile ribe has declined in popularity since the 1960s), while inland, more meat is consumed (as well as bread). As well, Lombardia has more vegetables in their cuisine due to the climate (and is the only area of Luziyca where grapes can be grown, of which most are grown for their wine), and is home to many local foods like pizza.

In the past fifty years in the east and twenty in the west, American-style food has caught on, like hot dogs, hamburgers, French fries, and as a result, American customs are being adopted, and traditional Luziycan food is starting to decline in popularity. Due to its multiculturalism, Geadish food is common in the north, Namorese food in the east, Katranjian, Graznian, Dhomish, and other food in the south, and others in ethnic enclaves.

Literature

Luziyca has a long and storied literary tradition. Initially, many books were dedicated to religious matters, and literacy was generally only reserved for monks. However, with the invention of the printing press in 1450, literacy began rising and thus, the topics of literature changed, with many sagas and legends being transcribed, as well as pamphlets beginning to be more common. By the 1800s, many could read and write, and new topics like romance, fantasy novels, and children's books emerged, as well as science-fiction in the 1950s. During the division of Luziyca, the literature of the west suffered, with hacks generally churning out low quality books, while the east became renowned for its literature.

Today, popular topics for books involve young adult novels, science-fiction, romance, and fantasy.

Music

Due to the large area in Luziyca and significant diversity of cultures, there have been a lot of traditional styles of music. Generally, choirs predominate in the north, while as one goes south, it tends to be more instrumental, though choirs are still common in local music. Church music however was surprisingly similar in various areas.

However, beginning in the 1600s, with Pero Hribernik from Mirak, Zivek Pivovarsky from Bethlehem, and Crespignano Carpinello from Lombardia adopted a classical style which became quite popular and help create a common genre. Generally, they are calming music, with elements of opera as well. With its popularity, more people began to use this musical style, and expanded upon it.

After the 1860s, folk music began to emerge on the popular scene, but classical music was seen as high culture, whilst in contrast, folk music was seen as low culture. The first major music genre to be accepted upon both upper and lower classes though was jazz music, which the popularity peaked in the 1920s. Blues music also took hold, especially during the Great Depression and the Luziycan Civil War.

Following the division, the west adopted a socialist style, involving military marches and operatic singing, but in the east, rock and roll took hold, with the most popular band being Zhivotnye. During the 1970s, country music told hold, before it emerged towards pop music by the 1980s.

Boy bands took hold in the early 1990s, with Krasota being one of the most popular bands, from 1994 to 2002 when they were put on indefinite hiatus. After this, girl singers emerged, and pop music was seen as becoming more about money, drugs, or sex. Despite this, it kept its popularity. Since 2011, there has been a revival of boy bands.

Arts

Luziyca has had a major art tradition, dating centuries back. Near Calore, there is evidence of cave drawings around 30,000-15,000 years old. Each center evolved their own style of art, but those of the major powers were generally more influential, and more of their work survives.

Generally, art was focused on the expression of subjects about Biblical and religious culture, and used styles that showed the higher glory of a heavenly world, such as the use of gold in the background of paintings, or glass in mosaics or windows, which also presented figures in idealized, patterned (flat) forms, but during the renaissance, realism became more dominant with a greatly increased emphasis on the realistic depiction of the material world, and the place of humans in it, reflected in the corporeality of the human body, with the development of perspective.

Today, modernism is a common style in sculptures, and abstract paintings are more common. Plays are extremely popular in Luziyca.

Cinema

Cinema in Luziyca dates back to the earliest years that the medium was invented. During the silent era, films were commonly exported throughout the region, but since the first talkies, Luziycan-language films have been largely confined to Luziyca and its former colonies, while English-language films are still exported, with one of the largest film industries in the region. Notable actors include Kevin Dhakov, Rybak Semrov, and Khranovi Titov, as well as directors David Prostoy and Breuvi Froder. Popular genres are fantasy, adventures, war films, and horror movies.

Sports

The most popular sport in Luziyca is association football (usually simply known as football). It is so popular that it is often considered to be the de-factonational sport. The Luziycan Premier League is home to the top teams in the Luziycan football scene, and is a major competitor in the Coupe d'Esquarium, having won the inaugural cup, achieved second place in the third CdE, and third place in the seventh CdE, as well as having hosted said edition. However, it lost the quarter-finals to Vyvland in the second CdE, and did not make it out of the group stage in the forth CdE. It was defeated in the round of sixteen by Senria in the fifth edition of the CdE, and by Arkiasis in the quarter-finals in the sixth edition.

Holidays

Luziyca has twelve public holidays on the federal level: in general, they are all celebrated secularly except for Christmas and Easter, where many attend church services, although in recent years, Christmas in particular has become more and more secularized. In addition, there are nineteen holidays celebrated at the state level.

Holiday

Date

Description

New Year's Day

January 1st

Celebrates the first day of every year in the Gregorian calendar.

Luziyca Day

March 25th

Celebrates the completion of unification of Luziyca under Huswa Varanken